Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life review: This provincial life

Missed the excitement of GamesBeat Summit? Don't worry! Tune in now to follow all live and virtual sessions here.

The farming simulation genre has certainly come a long way, hasn't it? Not so long ago, Harvest Moon games were the only ones of their kind in town. Now, thanks in part to Stardew Valley and the newfound popularity of cozy life simulation games, we have a number of different titles that fit that mold - you adapt to nature, grow crops or something similar, get to know the people of your new hometown, and ultimately find someone to marry and settle down with.

In fact, the genre has flourished so much that I think it may have spoiled me. Marvelous, the longtime developer of the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons series recently released a remake of its GameCube-era title, A Wonderful Life. Playing the remake is like returning to your hometown and realizing you don't miss it as much as you thought.

The story is familiar: you are a city kid who inherits a farm in the Forgotten Valley from your late father. When you arrive, his old friend Takakura tasks you with restoring the farm to its former glory. From that point on, your character can spend years of in-game time doing just that, raising crops and livestock into a real business. You also socialize with the people of a small town, finding that special someone you can settle down with in marriage and parenthood.

It all sounds very standard, doesn't it? Here's the thing: living a comfortable, rustic life may have been enough to sustain a game when it was first released, but now it's the bare minimum for this genre. At this point, most players expect more from their farming sims, and they're not getting it here. Although no longer named Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life is held back by the simplistic, provincial design of the original game.

A Simpler Life: What Do We Like?

A Wonderful Life is a beautiful game, with cute character designs and the cuddliest animals. The graphics are not to be overlooked, smoothly transitioning from bright and cheerful village to slightly otherworldly aspects along the periphery. Basic controls, including actual farming, harvesting, and exploration gameplay, are simple and intuitive. This is not a game where you will face enemies in your quest for the perfect patch of pumpkins. Just till your soil, talk to your neighbors and pet your animals - that's more or less it.

This game is also slow compared to other farm sims. In other games, even in other Story of Seasons entries, you will strive to earn money and buy your way to a better farm by the end of the first year. In AWL, you have no choice but to slow down. The game runs for the entire lives of your characters, which means you don't have to work hard from the start. You have time, and the game encourages you to use it.

While I'm not a fan of some structural elements of the game's design, I liked that the game limits how players can earn money. No need to pull weeds in the forest and sell them for quick cash: you can only ship the actual produce you grow or harvest from your animals. You have a way to sell additional items, but it's much more restrictive. It seems counterintuitive, but I enjoyed the added challenge in an otherwise simple game.

Rustic Restrictions: What's Not to Love

As charming as AWL is superficially, some aspects of its design feel dated. For example, the game is a third-person exploration title, as opposed to a top-down perspective. It makes the world, beautiful as it is, bigger and emptier than it needs to be - certainly emptier than the original GameCube. With fewer things to do each day in the game, life in Forgotten Valley can start to feel boring and monotonous, especially since AWL expects you to live 30 years of your character's life.

One of the most important components of AWL is marriage and family. From the moment your character sets foot on his father's farm, Takakura urges you to get married and start a family as soon as possible. He doesn't just say it either - the player must get married by the end of the first year to progress. I'll leave out that some players might not even want to get married and have kids. My question is why would I want to marry one of Forgotten Valley's bachelors?

Maybe it's another way I've been spoiled...